In the last 48 to 72 hours, my senses have been hammered. It started the night before leaving town driving through the Waldo/Brookside area of Kansas City. It was sunny with a nice gentle breeze, the temperature hovering around 60 F. With the windows down, every so often you could catch a nice big whiff of fall. You all know what fall smells like, right? The crisp cool air with the hint of freshly fallen leaves? Such a soothing aroma!
Less than 24 hours later, all that changed as we made our way to the airport and through the big cities of the US on our way to New Zealand. Jet fuel just doesn't have that pleasing scent that one might like to enjoy on an autumn afternoon. From the smell of jet fuel to the sweet smells of fresh blooms and flowers in blossom during the New Zealand spring, it's not just the sense of smell that is on overload. We were awakened by a minor 4.6 magnitude earthquake (http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/3403219g-maps.html) around 3am, followed by a sunrise before 6am! It was off for a morning walk and then some breakfast before the brain overload began.
We had the field safety refresher course for most of today (Sunday). Here you discuss risk management and general safety, sort through and assemble items in the emergency survival kit, learn the safety rules and policies of flying aboard a helicopter, all the while in the back of your mind trying to go through the steps to prevent and hopefully not treat frostbite or hypothermia. Antarctica is the highest, driest, coldest, and windiest place on Earth. Weather related injuries are not uncommon! Our goal is to know the signs and symptoms of these injuries in order to better prevent or treat them if necessary.
In the middle of all this we also took a little hike to the clothing distribution center (CDC(abbreviation) Clothing Distribution Center (or Centre as they spell it in New Zealand)) to check-out our ECW(abbreviation) Extreme Cold Weather clothing gear for the flight down south. It's much easier to figure out the baggage system the second time around.
The team is getting know each other (a very important part of the safety equation in Antarctica) and is really looking forward to getting to work in the next few days! The afternoon ended with a walk through the botanical gardens of Christchurch followed by a nice plate of fish crusted with lime sauce and coriander!
We're scheduled to meet at the CDC(abbreviation) Clothing Distribution Center (or Centre as they spell it in New Zealand) tomorrow morning at 0630 for a 0900 flight to McMurdo. If all goes according to plan, the next journal entry will be from the ice!
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